The Edward and Linda Speed Peace and Justice Fellows Program

The Edward and Linda Speed Peace and Justice Fellows Program for School of Humanities and Social Sciences, is made possible by a gift from Ed Speed (B.B.A. ’70, M.A. ’86) and his wife Linda. The program supports scholarship that advances Catholic social teaching, human rights, social justice and peace building.

Her project is titled “Early Childhood Intervention and Care for Children in Zambia, Africa.” Her intention is “to bridge the injustice of African children, focusing on those in Lusaka, that are living with developmental delays and disabilities and are not receiving vital early intervention services.” She wants to “develop effective strategies for children to receive these needed services in order to reach their fullest potential. This aligns with the perspective of Blessed Chaminade – that we would serve the marginalized locally and globally, so they could also live out their own missions in life.”

Eric Chelstrom, Ph.D., was the Edward and Linda Speed Peace and Justice Fellow in 2016.

His project examined how we should think about the basis for human societies and how we should understand social injustice. It is a philosophical analysis of oppression, which will result in several conference papers and a book proposal to advance the understanding of the topic of oppression.

“Oppression is pernicious insofar as it affects the formation of persons’ consciousness. The oppressed internalize systems of oppression. If our mission as a Marianist institution is to educate for justice and peace, and to form our students’ characters, understanding how oppression functions is important to our purposes – as we do not want to inadvertently contribute to oppression. And given that oppression is often facilitated by its invisibility, our ignorance of how we are participating in oppression, it is imperative that its effects be brought into the light of day. Doing so also promotes dignity, rights, and responsibilities and attends to poor and marginalized,” said Chelstrom.

His project will facilitate our capacity to adapt and change in a manner consistent with interests in justice and the common good.

Meghann Peace, Ph. D., was the Edward and Linda Speed Peace and Justice Fellow in 2015.

Her project was titled “Mexican and Peninsular Spanish Dialects,” which she conducted in both San Antonio and Spain over the course of the academic year. Peace explored how the context of communication affects the way in which people speak.

“I am amazed by (Speed’s) generosity, and I am very honored and excited to be conducting this research,” Peace said when named a Peace and Justice Fellow.

Throughout her career, Peace has been very involved in her academic and local communities. She has been a mentor to undergraduate students and graduate students, taught English as a Second Language to immigrants, provided interpretation and translation services in the United States and Brazil for the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy and interpreted at National Kidney Foundation community health screenings for at-risk populations.